Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

As I was most undertrained for the swim (I haven't done a 1900m workout much less try to swim it all at once!), the goal was to just take it easy and come out of the water feeling good. If not for getting lost over the first portion of the course (I overestimated the effect of the wind/current and added about 200m to the route), this would've been a great swim for me. After the first turn, I felt pretty good. Water felt great and I didn't really even swallow any (part of my low-sodium nutrition plan for the swim).

Consistently swim before next event...I had less than 7000m of TOTAL swim workouts the 7 weeks or so previous to the race...and I'm not a good swimmer to begin with. More OWS practice and more swimming in general and I should be able to get at least 5 minutes faster for this distance.

It was not my intention to race this so I took it easy. Walked to the shower, stayed there for at least 20 seconds getting nice and clean, potty stop (strange since I didn't drink much the entire morning), and deliberately put on my gear.

If I was 'racing' this, I would probably cut this time in half by having a sense of urgency. They had wetsuit strippers (first time) though one leg was stuck on my chip strap for a few seconds.

As the bike is my strength, I always enjoy the fact that very few people pass me and I do most of the passing. I was supposed to keep a 140-145 HR but decided to be even more conservative, keeping my around 135-140 most of the time. Probably should've pushed more coming back but was nervous on how the run was going to feel as this would only be my 3rd half-marathon ever and first time after swimming and biking this long. Speedfill with Perpetuem worked well and I was able to take my liquids in smaller, more regular increments vs. gulping as I normally do with bottles. Stuck with nutrition plan - 2 Endurolytes every 45 minutes, and 4 scoops of Perpetuem in the Speedfil. Supplemented with a little bit of HEED on my spare bottle and had a Gel about 15 minutes before the end in preparation for the run. When the Perpetuem ran out, I had a spare bottle of water and just refilled the speedfill with water.

Be confident enough to follow HR plan and not be overly conservative. Probably left several minutes on the table. Also, I may get a wheel cover for my rear 808 since I didn't have any difficulty in the windy conditions.

Like T1, I wasn't really racing so I took my time. I did jog with my bike but with no real sense of urgency. It was my first time to wear socks so I took my time putting those on. I remembered to put my spare bike stuff away (I had it in my tri top pocket) and wore a race cap (thank goodness - it was hot!). Even took another potty break before heading out to the course.

Move a little quicker - probably can do this closer to a minute if I was going fast.

running 4 loops was nice as I got to see people and knew what to expect. With my Garmin, I didn't have a problem figuring out how many laps I had done. The biggest surprise for me was how much the heat affected my HR. I had a HR-based plan for the race and stuck with it. Did the first loop very comfortably, around low 150's bpm. However, the clouds disappeared and we were in full-blown scorching sun for a while and I made myself slow down to stay in my planned HR zone. I did walk some water stations to get HR down, douse myself and 'renew' my sponge with ice water. Stuck to my nutrition plan and took a Hammer Gel around Mile 4 and Mile 10, and 2 Endurolytes every 30 minutes. I was supposed to go hard the last 2 miles, but I was going to get 2-3 minutes doing that and I wasn't near any nice round times that would be good goals, so I didn't bother. I was safely under 2 hours for the run and was significantly over 5:30 already, so wasn't going to try in the last 2 miles...so I took it easy until the last 0.3 miles, got rid of my sponges (hate those in pictures), zipped up my top and got ready to smile for the finish line shot.

If I was pushing, I would probably have gone a little faster on the last couple of loops and let my HR go up as I was feeling ok. I was just trying to finish so I was very conservative. I ran this over a minute/mile slower than my last half-marathon (2 weeks ago) and probably would've been ok slowing down just 30 sec/mile.

not much - Recovery Shake, then complimentary massage. Chatted with friends and then got in the car to drive back (over 5 hrs).


Training - signing up 2 weeks before the race with little specific training doesn't help. I think getting under 5:30 is very manageable for next time (on a similar course). It was a good race for what I intended it to be - to enjoy my first 70.3 experience and use the knowledge to determine my training and THEN race my next one.


Very organized race. I'd love to do this again with more preparation and a plan to stay at least 1 extra day, even 2 so I can enjoy the beach adn explore the town a bit. Perhaps next year!